Lamb back on the plate as prices fall

Hellenic Club manager Dimitris Zervos, who buys 70 to 90 kilograms of lamb a week, wants a cut in his lamb bill.
Photo: Nic Walker

by
Sophie Morris

Supermarket prices of lamb have fallen up to 30 per cent, putting the meat back on the menu of budget-conscious barbecue fans.

Chief economist with Meat and Livestock Australia Tim McRae said an extra 1.3 million lambs had been killed in the past nine months than the same period in 2011.

Farmers are disappointed that the record prices of last year have not been repeated this season.

Woolworths has noted a 20 per cent rise in lamb sales since cutting prices in August, selling an extra million kilos than in the same period last year. Cutlets dropped from around $37 a kilogram to below $30 and mid-loin chops went from around $25 to $17 a kilo.

Mr McRae said slaughterings had risen about 15 per cent on last year.

“This follows a couple of years of rebuilding of the flock and tighter supplies but also it’s a bit dry around the place," he said.

“If there’s a good dump of rain, prices will rise." Last year there were concerns lamb was becoming too expensive compared with other meats.

The manager at the Hellenic Club in Sydney, Dimitris Zervos, orders 70 to 90 kilograms of lamb a week and thinks he should be paying less than last year.